Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas claims victory at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas made it third time lucky at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday night, defeating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 to claim his maiden ATP 500 title in front of a jubilant Centre Court under the lights at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
 
Making his first Dubai appearance since 2020, when he was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic, and playing in his third final in four trips to the tournament, the World No11’s straight-sets victory ensured he became the first Greek player to claim glory in Dubai.
 
After eclipsing Lorenzo Sonego, Karen Khachanov, Matteo Berrettini, and Tallon Griekspoor enroute to the Auger-Aliassime showdown, Tsitsipas delivered a stunning array of booming serves, powerful baseline winners, and delicate dropshots to dismantle his under-par opponent in an hour and 28 minutes.
 
Tsitsipas started slowly, forced to save two breakpoints early on and winning only three points across his opponent’s first three service games. Yet it was the No4 seed who secured the crucial breaks, first for 4-3 – helped by an Auger-Aliassime double-fault – and again to take the opening set. Crucially, again at 4-3 in the second, he secured the break that would ultimately lead to what he later dubbed his “final redemption” in Dubai.